Prior art slide fasteners having coupling elements molded on connecting threads which are woven into inner edges of supporting tapes have gaps formed in the coupling element trains by (1) severing only the head portions of the coupling elements and leaving the leg portions attached to the tapes as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,871 or (2) cutting the connecting members between the elements and pulling the elements with the severed stubs of connecting elements from the edge of the tape as illustrated for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,241,489 and 4,274,191. At the gaps in the slide fasteners formed by severing and removing only the head portions, the remaining protruding leg portions are difficult to sew through and can be abrasive to clothing, skin, etc. In the slide fasteners having gaps formed by removing the connecting threads with the elements, the inner edges of the tapes have relatively loose loops of weft threads due to the removal of the connecting threads; these loose edges generally do not provide adequate support for top stops, bottom stops, pin members, or retainers employed in different types of slide fasteners.
In prior art slide fasteners wherein polymer coupling elements are molded directly onto the edges of supporting tapes, the elements are removed by pulling them from the edge of the tape as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,532 or severing the head portions as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,474 and removing the remaining legs from the tapes. In these processes, damage can occur to the tapes and/or protruding portions can be left on the tapes.
Additionally the prior art, as exemplified in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,594,789, 3,711,930, 3,540,090, 3,611,545 and 4,131,223 contains slide fasteners as well as processes and apparatus for gapping slide fasteners employing element trains which are crimped or sewn to the edges of the tapes. In the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,594,789, legs of a slide fastener element are cut or stripped from the opposite sides of the tape by prongs of a scoop removal pliers, the head of the element being pushed by a plunger driven by the pliers to force the element onto the prongs which have outer inclined diverging surfaces for spreading the legs of the element to disconnect the element from the tape. In the above mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,540,090, 3,611,545 and 3,711,930, severing the sewing threads between coil elements and tapes by cutting members is illustrated. Generally the processes and apparatus for removing crimped metal coupling elements and sewn elements from tapes are not usable in processes for gapping elements which are molded directly onto edges of the tapes or onto connecting threads woven into edges of the tapes.